Like many school districts, Lansing is feeling the pinch of a national teacher shortage. Now, administrators are offering an incentive to entice more substitute teachers to come work there.
Lansing is offering $300 per day for substitutes to teach at its three largest schools: Everett High School, Dwight Rich and Gardner.
That’s up from $200, which is still the rate to teach at all other Lansing schools.
The extra pay is an effort to stem the school staffing crisis that was already dire before the pandemic exacerbated the problem.
“This is definitely a short-term fix at this point in time,” said Lansing School District human resources executive director Suzy Corbin. “I mean, obviously we’d love to have a certified teacher in every classroom at all times. It just doesn’t always work out that way despite any efforts that we may make.”
Lansing schools require a minimum of 60 college credits and a background check to become a substitute teacher.
On Thursday, Republican state representative Steve Carra introduced legislation that would remove the college credit requirement.